As you can guess from the terrific title, I saw V for Vendetta today. That's the movie with Nathalie Portman getting shaved and Hugo Weaving wearing the coolest mask in movie history. And some actor who plays a dictator who looks like Hitler, but then again, most dictators in films seem to look like him.
Yesterday I decided that I was going to see one of three new movies that were released today: Ice Age 2, Casanova or V For Vendetta. Since I received my first magazine of TIME Magazine yesterday and I found a positive review of V in there, I decided to go and watch that one then. I must say that I'm glad I did because the movie was, and now here's a surprise, very good.
Just look at that mask. Look at it, I say! Absolutely brilliant, I want one of those. If I ever, for reasons one can not fully understand, should marry a mask, it would definitely be this one. Hugo Weaving does a superb job bringing the mask alive in V for Vendetta. Apart from his cool looks, V, that's the name of the man in the mask, also has quite a few interesting things to say. And of course he is the protagonist in this movie, but the great thing is that he actually is the bad guy. He's a bit badder than most movie heroes, who tend to suddenly see the light halfway through the movie and then decide to turn to the good side. But not V, he remains evil throughout the movie. Of course he builds up a relationship with Natalie Portman (who wouldn't?) but in the end he didn't feel as 'the bad guy gone good' as most movie villains do. That makes him a very interesting character. TIME accurately put it this way: 'Give poor, tortured V back his goodness, and you take away his greatness.'
Apart from the small love story between V and Evey, the main theme of the movie obviously is terrorism. The movie focuses around the question 'Can a terrorist have justified reasons to blow up buildings and kill people?' The obvious question to this answer is 'No' and I think it's at least as obvious that V for Vendetta would like you to think otherwise, because V does in fact have good reasons for what he does. I'm not going to spoil anything here but it's obvious that V is one of the few persons who actually sees the whole picture of the country and the dictatorial regime in which he and millions of other people live. Now and then, these lines like 'Blowing up a building can change the world' come out of the mask and they make you think about V and about terrorism today. Some people watching this movie will only see the cool moves V shows off with his daggers (and my god, are they cool), but most of the viewers will see the underlying themes in the film and those themes are at least as strong as the performance by Hugo Weaving, bringing one of the greatest comic book characters ever to life on the big screen in his own, unique way.
I was planning to post a quote from the movie here in which V introduces himself to Evey. But when I read the quote on IMDB.com it didn't feel quite as strong as it felt when being articulated by Hugo Weaving in the movie. So I will just say that it's my favourite movie character introduction up to date and that you should see it too because it will roxxors your boxxors. Or something like that. Cheers to V, cheers to the Wachowski brothers and cheers to TIME Magazine for making me watch this great movie.
"Remember, remember, the fifth of November, The gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot." - V
3 opmerkingen:
Dit weekend es gaan kijken... Lang geleden da'k nog es in de bios ben geweest (twee weken gdv :P)
Wanna seee it :d
Man toch, vandaag tweede keer bekeken en ik vond hem nog een scheet beter dan oorspronkelijk, al blijft er echt wel een half uur aanwezig waarin de boel net iets teveel aansleept imo. Maar verder echt een schitterende film, persoonlijke favoriet van 2006 totnogtoe.
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